ATTICA — Mohawk retained its league championship and more here Saturday afternoon.
This marks the 6th straight year that the Warriors claimed The Northern 10 Athletic Conference wrestling title at Seneca East High School. Brad Rice was chosen coach of the year and senior Evan England was voted the Most Valuable Wrestler.
“We did pretty good. We had a few matches that didn’t go our way, but in the long run it turned out pretty well,” Rice said.
“Teamwise, we’re starting to come together — the camaraderie — and that’s what you want to see at this time of the year. We preach being stingy and being relentless on the mat. Even the matches we figured wouldn’t be close, we kept them really close.”
England won the title last year at 145 and moved up a weight class to 155 this season. He improved his record to 33-3 with a pair of pins and a major decision.
Other returning champions who repeated were Seneca East’s Nicholas Parks (132), Dominick Hemmer (285) and Braylan Mullholand (215).
Bucyrus’ Sawyer Cooper (132) finished third after claiming first place last year.
Mohawk topped Seneca East 187-151 and had four individual winners in Owen Patrizi (120), Brant Kirian (138), England (155) and Kaden Bish (165).
“Sophomore Braxton Frisch lost (7-5) to the Carey kid (Jordan Hertel) at 144. That was a match that we didn’t know how it would go. But Braxton did a great job,” Rice said. “Knowing that we can stick with guys at that level is what we need going into the post-season.”
Sectionals are next Saturday. Mohawk and Carey go to Van Buren in Division III, while Bucyrus, Buckeye Central and Seneca East travel to Plymouth.
The Tigers had five champions in Deacon Lacy (126), Nicholas Parks (132), Jackson Gayheart (157), Braylen Depinet (175) and Dominic Hemmer (285).
“It’s a double-edged sword. They can watch us wrestle and we can watch them,” Rice said.
Bucyrus finished fourth under head coach Shane Kokensparger.
“They went brackets instead of pools. Sawyer Cooper lost a really tough match 7-6. Hayden Butcher made the finals at 190. Andy Case didn’t make weight at 144, so we bumped him up to 150.”
Case lost a major decision to Seneca East’s Will Bischoff, 12-4.
“A lot of kids were going for third or fourth,” Kokensparger said. Five Redmen took third place.
“Right now, we’re not where we want to be. Where we were at the Napoleon Duals is where we wanted to be all year. We’re kind of backsliding a little bit. We need to get them back on track for sectionals. From there it’s go or go home.”
Kokensparger calls their sectional one of the toughest in the state.
“With Edison, Monroeville, Seneca East there it’s good. We’re thinking of big things from our freshmen. We have eight in our starting line-up,” he said. “If all eight of those qualify for districts, then we have a chance to make State Duals next year and that’s what our goal is next year.”
The N10 and the Blanchard Valley Conference held their tournaments in a bracket format. This year the two conferences held their individual tourneys and then the first-, second- and third-place finishers from the N10 and the BVC met on the mats.
Rice said his young wrestlers performed well.
“Owen has done well beating the Seneca East kid. He’s been tough the last couple of tournaments. He lost to the Plymouth kid twice at Margaretta, once in the pool and once in the finals. He’s been wrestling well and iron out some of the things he’s been working on all year,” he said.
“Freshman Braydon Studer had (Deacon) Lacy of Seneca East in the finals. That’s a tough match for us, but Braydon is one of those kids that keeps going. He always finds a way to keep moving,” Rice said.
Lacy, a sophomore, prevailed 10-5.
Liam Pursell, Mohawk’s 132-pounder, lost to state qualifier Nicholas Parks 7-2.
“Liam’s and Brant Kirian (138) are wrestling really well for us. Evan England, a senior, is a staple for our program the past four years.”
England got a 10-0 major decision over Will Bischoff of Seneca East in the 150-pound class.
“We got some extra first-round matches and let us skyrocket into the lead early. The kids need to keep showing up and working for it,” Rice said.
N10 Team Score
1. Mohawk 187.0
2. Seneca East 151.0
3. Carey 136.0
4. Bucyrus 109.0
5. Upper Sandusky 56.0
6. New Riegel 8.0
7. Buckeye Central 0.0
Individual
First Place
106 Emery Littleton (Carey) pin Harper Boggs (Bucyrus) 1:52
113 Abraham Baldwin (Upper Sandusky) pin Brody Thiel (Carey) 2:30
120 Owen Patrizi (Mohawk) tech. fall Grady Weber (Bucyrus) tf20-5
126 Deacon Lacy (Seneca East) dec. Braydon Studer (Mohawk) 10-5
132 Nicholas Parks (Seneca East) dec. Liam Pursell (Mohawk) 7-2
138 Brant Kirian (Mohawk) pin Kayden Burgei (Carey) 4:26
144 Jordan Hertel (Carey) maj. dec. Joey Smith (Upper Sandusky) md13-4
150 Evan England (Mohawk) maj. dec. Will Bischoff (Seneca East) md10-0
157 Jackson Gayheart (Seneca East) dec. Mason Rickle (Carey) 2-1
165 Kaden Bish (Mohawk) tech. fall Dawson Birchnaugh (Carey) tf21-6
175 Braylen Depinet (Seneca East) pin Donald Johnson (Mohawk) 0:37
190 Reid Blankenmeyer (Carey) dec. Hayden Butcher (Bucyrus) 8-5
215 Braylan Mullholand (Mohawk) pin Brett Martin (Seneca East) 1:16
285 Dominic Hemmer (Seneca East) dec. Coby Butler (Mohawk) 3-1
Third Place
113 Austin Lightner (Seneca East) pin Nykk Zornes (Bucyrus) 1:09
120 Cal Geary (Seneca East) Bye Add 3pts (3rd Place by Bye) Bye
126 Clayten Lawson (Bucyrus) pin Braylon Schlack (Carey) 3:51
132 Kaiden Vaughn (Bucyrus) Bye Add 3pts (3rd Place by Bye) Bye
138 Sawyer Cooper (Bucyrus) pin Aaron Hartzell (New Riegel) 2:04
144 Braxton Frisch (Mohawk) forfeit Nathan Parks (Seneca East) Forfeit
150 Ethan Lewis (Upper Sandusky) maj. dec. Andy Case (Bucyrus) md12-3
157 Lance Frankart (Mohawk) pin Maurico Martinez (Bucyrus) 0:47
165 Daren Yaussy (Bucyrus) pin Blake Compton (Upper Sandusky) 0:7
175 Nathanial Gery (Carey) pin Ethan Shoemaker (Upper Sandusky)1:45
190 Alex Young (Seneca East) dec. Lane Kraft (Mohawk) 5-2
215 Gavin Snyder (Carey) pin Asher Swerlein (Bucyrus) 1:53
285 Hayden Ginn (Bucyrus) pin Garrett Boes (Carey) 2:04
BVC Team Score
1. Liberty-Benton 185.0
2. Elmwood 164.5
3. Van Buren 122.5
4. McComb 78.0
5. Arcadia 70.0
6. Cory-Rawson 38.0
Riverdale 38.0
Full results at https://www.baumspage.com/wr/n10/2023/2024%20Results.htm